Prayer - Even Jesus Did It!
Sometimes when people hear the word "PRAY" or the words "Prayer Meeting" they about-face and head out the back door. WHY? I have met so many that would rather clean a public toilet than pray - especially out loud. Why are there so many of us that are uncomfortable with praying?
Jesus prayed - A LOT! The Bible is filled with examples of Jesus' prayers and examples of Him going off somewhere to pray. He even did it for 40 days without food or water in the wilderness by Himself. In John 17, Jesus prays for Himself, His Disciples and all of us. Go check it out if you have time. Ephesians 6:18 tells us.."And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." I encourage you to look through your Bible, or an online Bible, and search for the word "prayer". Discover for yourself the power of prayer.
God gave us this unbelievable gift of communication through the avenue of prayer. We can talk to the Creator of the entire universe sitting on our couch, driving in our car, silently waiting in a Dr. office. Whenever and wherever and for however long we desire. It's one of the MOST important things we should be doing, yet most are not. Everyday when we wake up our hearts should say good morning God first before our feet hit the floor.
If we are too busy to even make time for a 5 minute prayer - then sit down with a pen and paper and write which 1-5 things you can give up or push off until later to replace that time with God. He is more important than anything else you could possibly do, don't you think?
If we are to be like Jesus in everything we do - even though we will fall short and not come close - we are commanded to keep trying. Some days I think I get close and most days I fall the opposite way - but it doesn't stop my from waking up the next morning and deciding to try all over again.
We all will have days when we don't know what to do, our life's directions seem screwed up and winding down paths we don't even want to go down. This is the time when we really need to think about spending time with God. Ask Him what is the right path, where you need to go, who you need to talk to. He will show.
ACTION STEPS: Pick ones that work for you
Jesus prayed - A LOT! The Bible is filled with examples of Jesus' prayers and examples of Him going off somewhere to pray. He even did it for 40 days without food or water in the wilderness by Himself. In John 17, Jesus prays for Himself, His Disciples and all of us. Go check it out if you have time. Ephesians 6:18 tells us.."And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." I encourage you to look through your Bible, or an online Bible, and search for the word "prayer". Discover for yourself the power of prayer.
God gave us this unbelievable gift of communication through the avenue of prayer. We can talk to the Creator of the entire universe sitting on our couch, driving in our car, silently waiting in a Dr. office. Whenever and wherever and for however long we desire. It's one of the MOST important things we should be doing, yet most are not. Everyday when we wake up our hearts should say good morning God first before our feet hit the floor.
If we are too busy to even make time for a 5 minute prayer - then sit down with a pen and paper and write which 1-5 things you can give up or push off until later to replace that time with God. He is more important than anything else you could possibly do, don't you think?
If we are to be like Jesus in everything we do - even though we will fall short and not come close - we are commanded to keep trying. Some days I think I get close and most days I fall the opposite way - but it doesn't stop my from waking up the next morning and deciding to try all over again.
We all will have days when we don't know what to do, our life's directions seem screwed up and winding down paths we don't even want to go down. This is the time when we really need to think about spending time with God. Ask Him what is the right path, where you need to go, who you need to talk to. He will show.
ACTION STEPS: Pick ones that work for you
- Decide to pray everyday at the same time. Our bodies are like clockwork, we work better when we do the same thing at the same time (eating, sleeping, exercising - we even go to the bathroom around the same time everyday!) so make an appointment with God, daily and before you know it, it will become habit, like clockwork.
- Get a notebook and record prayers or requests, date it and then when God answers those prayers, record the date. As you look back over the prayers that were answered, you might be amazed and HOW and WHEN those prayers WERE answered.
- Ask someone to be a prayer partner with you, accountability partner. Just like exercise it's one of the most important factors in getting to a goal, hitting that mark and making something become habit.
- Set a timer and pray until it goes off. Remember it's not the quantity of time, but the quality.
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